


the ones we are

by tkreyesevandiaz



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Couch Cuddles, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Married Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Mild Language, Romantic Fluff, Slight sexual connotations, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, innuendos, prompt, quizzes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28450815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tkreyesevandiaz/pseuds/tkreyesevandiaz
Summary: Buck and Eddie take couples' quizzes."Here, let me help you."
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 29
Kudos: 258





	the ones we are

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year's Eve! We got through this year, and now...onwards :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy this quick piece <3 @renecdote on Tumblr requested "here, let me help you" but I can't find the prompt list anymore :/

They’ve done a lot of things together over the years.

Running into burning buildings, enduring parent-teacher conferences, watching people stick body parts where they don’t belong, moving in together, standing up and saying _vows_ in front of their closest family.

This...somehow is one of the most outlandish things Eddie’s ever seen in all the years he's known Buck.

“Couple’s quizzes?”

To be fair, it’s a product of pure boredom. Christopher’s at a birthday party, having given them clear instructions that Alec’s mom can pick him up, drop him off and that they weren’t allowed to hover.

Because at thirteen, Chris knows what they’re doing. So they listened to him — and by listened, Eddie meant that Buck distracted the two boys while he confirmed everything with Jenny.

Parents have to be careful, and Buck and Eddie have overprotective streaks miles wide. So while they'll let Chris do everything on his own, that doesn't stop them from making sure he's as safe as he can be while doing it.

Buck calls it an art, Eddie calls it being vigilant.

Regardless, off Chris had gone with his friend. Then the house was empty, and there wasn’t anything to do.

Buck fixes him with a deadpan look from over the top of his phone, leaning against the armrest on the opposite side of the couch. His feet are swung over into Eddie’s lap, and he looks far too comfortable for Eddie’s liking. “Do you have anything better to do, Edmundo?”

He grumbles but chooses not to answer, instead clicking the link that Buck sent him.

“Relationship Quiz: How Well Do You Know Your Partner?’” Eddie reads off the top, casting a long look in Buck’s direction. “Really?”

Buck only shrugs. “They’ve been researching love and relationships for forty years. There’s gotta be some truth to it.”

Eddie isn’t nervous about Buck knowing him. Them getting married hasn’t changed the fact that Buck is, and would always be, his best friend. He’s the man Eddie goes to about everything — including needing to rant about his husband, and then to pull the same man into his arms right after. 

And to some basal extent, Eddie knows it’s the same with Buck too. He’s heard his own shortcomings reflected back at him more times than he can count, always right before Buck steps into his space and kisses him silly.

While they have their own friends, their relationship has always been a private matter, between them. Both of them have faced the scrutiny of being under a microscope, and it wasn’t a hard decision to decide that the negatives would stay with them alone.

So, Eddie really has nothing to lose.

“Okay, here we go. ‘I can name my partner’s best friend.’” Buck starts reading. They exchange a grin before pressing ‘yes.’

_I know what stresses my partner is currently facing._

“Chris growing up,’ Buck says.

“Joy starting pre-school,” Eddie replies. Maddie and Chimney aren’t freaking out as much as Buck is.

They select yes.

_I can tell you some of my partner’s life dreams._

“I have my dream,” Eddie says simply, because he’s never aspired for much else outside what he has. He’s always wanted a family of his own, where he was enough for them, and Buck knows it. “Yours is...looking for a place to belong.”

“I have mine too,” Buck smiles sweetly, scrolling past. “‘I can tell you about my partner's basic philosophy of life.’ Count your words before you say them. That’s yours, Mr. Man of Few Words.”

Eddie glares at him. “Yours is to live life on the edge.” Buck simply kicks at him lightly, making Eddie laugh and drop the mock anger. “Okay, next one, ‘I know the names of some of the people who have been irritating my partner lately.’” 

Buck groans as Eddie laughs gleefully. “Don’t even get me started. Dude, she’s awesome but man, she needs to learn some boundaries!”

The woman in reference was one of the new firefighters, who had a knack for getting all up in everyone’s business, but especially Buck’s. They were harmless questions, but even Buck’s penchant for being a nice guy had its limits. 

Of course, that could be made worse by her propensity to flirt with him _despite_ knowing that he’s very married.

“You’re supposed to be more jealous, you know,” Buck tells him. "Pull some possessive bullshit and tell her off for me."

Eddie shrugs. “Who says I’m not? But again, if you wanted me to say something, you would’ve told me.”

His husband stares at him. “I hate how well you know me.”

Well, given the afternoon activity they’ve chosen, that’s an awkward statement. Eddie says as much to him, absently slipping his fingers under the cuff of Buck’s sweatpants. “You chose the worst thing for us to do, then. Next one, ‘I can list the relatives my partner likes the least.’ Your parents and your aunt Maureen.”

“Man, she gives me the creeps,” Buck replies, shuddering at the mention of his aunt. “Yours is that cousin of yours that asks super personal questions about our sex life. ‘I feel that my partner knows me pretty well.’” Eddie laughs as Buck begrudgingly presses ‘yes’ on his screen. “Okay these are about our romantic relationship. ‘When we are apart, I often think fondly of my partner.’”

“I don’t know about fondly, but yeah,” Eddie teases. Buck rolls his eyes and moves on.

_I often touch or kiss my partner affectionately._

“Enough that Chris is grossed out by us,” Eddie says, pressing ‘yes.’ “‘There is fire and passion in this relationship.’ What’s the criteria for that?”

“I don’t know, are we still hot for each other? After all these years?” Buck asks, arching a brow. 

Eddie thinks about the way he’s always spoiled for choice when it comes to Buck, despite having the man spread out under, over, to the side and in every single combination Eddie could think of over the past four years. His hands, fingers and lips have touched literally every part of Buck’s skin and sometimes it still doesn’t feel like enough.

He exchanges a look with his smirking husband, rolls his eyes and selects ‘yes.’ “‘Romance is definitely still part of our relationship.’”

“You’ve been wooing me since before we got together. Who knew you were such a closet romantic,” Buck sings happily, sending a light blush across Eddie’s cheeks. “‘Our sex life is mostly satisfying.’ Mostly?” Buck looks appalled by the comparative word. “What do you mean, mostly? Last night, I almost cried when you–”

“Okay!” Eddie says loudly, shutting his husband up. He could feel the flush travel past his ears, down his neck. Ignoring Buck completely, Eddie reads the next prompt. “They’re testing our friendship now.”

“Yes to all of this. Hey, you think it’s weird that we haven’t said no to anything?”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to fill this out _together_ ,” Eddie says dryly, reading the values on the next page. “Wow okay, so. ‘We generally mesh well on basic values and goals in life.’”

“Yup. ‘My partner appreciates the things I do in this relationship.’ In many ways,” Buck smirks. Eddie pinches him. “‘My partner generally likes my personality.’”

“Generally,” Eddie agrees, smiling for the indignant squawk. “Dude, it’s asking us about respect now.”

Buck shrugs and clicks enter, sitting up straight. “You have to enter an email to get your results? Dude this is a scam! We just spent the last five minutes doing this! How much more dedication do you need to the cause?”

Eddie laughs loudly, spurred on by the look on Buck’s face. “You should’ve chosen one that wasn’t gonna ask for a subscription.”

“But now I’m curious.” He takes Buck’s phone before he can sign up for the stupid relationship update site. “Eddie!”

“There are probably a thousand that don’t require us subscribing to virtual couple’s therapy. Look, here’s one from Buzzfeed. Twenty questions, I’ll fill part one and you fill part two, and we’ll see,” Eddie points out. He’s supposed to answer these questions about himself before he gives it to Buck.

They’re basic enough questions — favourite color, star sign, best physical feature, what you would be famous for.

Then it asks him his favourite sex position.

Eddie fights to keep the blush off his face, still not one-hundred percent with talking about all of it out loud. He's good when they're in their bedroom, but somehow it feels a little more vulgar sitting on their couch in broad daylight.

But because Buck is Buck, he notices the color on Eddie's cheeks anyway.

“They’re asking you about sex, aren’t they.” There’s a gleeful, smug note to his voice that Eddie glowers at him for.

Eddie quickly fills in the rest of the questionnaire, snorting when it asks what he thinks his partner’s favourite part of him is. “Okay, I got 66. You have to get around there for you to know me well.”

He passes the phone to Buck, who looks far too determined for a silly couple’s test. As fun as this surprisingly is, that number isn’t going to dictate anything.

“Isn’t your birthday like...right on the edge of Virgo and Libra?” Buck asks. Eddie shrugs, trailing a finger along Buck’s leg. “That’s cheating.”

“I’m only touching you.”

“It’s distracting me,” Buck argues back, selecting another answer. He takes his hands away, only for his husband to catch his hand and place it back where it had just been. Eddie shakes his head fondly but watches as Buck answers the questions.

“I can’t believe you don’t think your butt is your best feature.”

“There’s more to me than my butt,” Eddie laughs. “I mean, it’s going to ask you what _your_ favourite part of me is, so.”

“Ah. Yeah, your butt,” Buck nods gravely, smiling cheekily. He looks younger like this, with no gel, hardly dressed and relaxed from the prospect of doing nothing.

Eddie’s so glad he married him.

“‘What’s your partner’s favourite sex position?’ Oh this is the question. I know this one.” 

“I’d hope so, it’s been nearly half a decade.” And it really has. Seven months brings up their fifth anniversary of getting together, a number Eddie almost can’t believe. 

“You said I love you first, and I will always resent you for that,” Buck brings up suddenly. Eddie laughs at the memory; it’d been a slip of tongue, but he’d meant the words. He had just been standing in the doorway watching Buck and Christopher, and even though he hadn’t wanted to say them like that, he ended up doing it anyway.

Buck had been just as indignant then too, insisting that he had a whole plan to be the first to say it but Eddie had just kissed him until he finally shut up.

“Favourite type of chocolate is definitely milk chocolate. Don’t think I don’t know about the secret stash at the back of the cabinet.”

“Don’t think I don’t know that you’ve been refilling it,” Eddie counters. 

Buck waves the phone in his face, open to the first date question. “Our first date was a disaster.”

Eddie agrees. Everything that could’ve gone wrong...did. Their cab didn’t show, the restaurant closed by the time they got there, it’d started raining while they were waiting outside and to add insult to injury, a car drove straight through a puddle, splashing them with muddy water. 

Either way, it still brought them here, so there’s nothing to complain about. “There’s no one I would’ve splattered mud on my best slacks with,” he tells his husband.

All the clothes had been _ruined_. Both of their best shirts and pants were beyond repair by the end of it. By the end of it, they had been completely tired of everything, but they’d still laughed at their bad luck.

“You live off coffee, so that.” Eddie watches carefully, because he knows what question comes after that.

_Which of these common fears is your partner most scared of?_

It wasn’t really common the way Eddie had acquired the fear of drowning, and sure to it, Buck’s smile dimmed. He didn’t say anything, only pressed his palms flatter against Buck’s legs, letting his ring do the talking for him.

“I got 64,” Buck announces. “Wait, what did I get wrong?”

 **“Here, let me help you.”** Eddie takes the phone and scrolls through. “Kindness isn’t my best personality trait. I think loyalty is.”

“That was my second choice but kindness is definitely one of them,” Buck tugs at his shirt, pressing a chaste kiss where he can reach. “Okay, my turn.”

They do the same thing with Buck filling the preliminary questions this time, and still end up in the same margin. 

“This is a little scary,” Eddie observes. “Barring the sex ones, I knew all of these about you before we even got together.” Buck clicks on another link and shows him. “You want us to figure out what type of couple we are?”

“Nothing to lose,” Buck sing-songs. “‘How long have you and your partner been together?’ Three to five years.”

Eddie pushes Buck’s legs off his lap, pulling his husband into his side bodily instead. Buck laughs but curls into him. “‘Where did you meet?’ At work. You hated me then.”

“Will you ever let that go?”

“No.”

_How do you settle an argument with your S.O?_

“I think we would be scary if we never fought. But we don’t really sweat the small stuff, do we?” Buck asks.

“Professing our love for one another after every argument is definitely not us. Neither is screaming at each other. Yeah, compromise sounds more like it. We can be in love even while fighting.” 

“Neither of us are big on Valentine’s day either. Besides, I think we’re accustomed to surprising each other at least once a month anyway,” Buck says.

“These questions are ridiculous,” Eddie says, cringing at the prospect of calling Buck ‘honey.’ By the look on his husband’s face, he’s thinking along the same lines.

“Oh well, we’re invested now,” Buck says. Then comes up an actual pet name question and they both laugh out loud at the sheer insanity.

_Sugarlips, baby, shmoopie, pumpkin_

“And I thought ‘honey’ was bad enough,” he shudders, quickly pressing through. “‘Sexiest part of your partner’s body.’ What is it with these quizzes?”

“Apparently sex is the foundation of a relationship,” Buck mutters. “Okay, so apparently we’re a validating couple.”

_Somewhat expressive, but mostly neutral. They put emphasis into understanding their partner’s point of view, and are generally very empathetic. They may experience competitiveness before settling on compromises. They only talk about their differences on some issues and not others._

“That’s not us,” Buck says, shaking his head. “We talk about everything.”

“I told you this isn’t going to tell us anything,” Eddie tells him, plucking his phone from his grasp and setting it next to them. “Instead, we could’ve been watching something.”

“You can’t think of anything else to do with an empty house?” 

Eddie kisses his husband’s cheeky smirk away. “I can think of a thousand things to do to you right now, but maybe it’s a prime making-out-on-the-couch-while-we-pretend-to-watch-TV opportunity.”

Buck only laughs, curling tighter around him as he picks up the remote. “Well, let’s find something then.”

“That survey was beyond ridiculous, I hope you know that.” Eddie can’t help but say, smiling when Buck’s body shakes against him. “We’re like...the best couple.”

“No doubt about that one,” Buck stretches up, capturing Eddie’s bottom lip with both his own. “Can we get to the making out part?”

Eddie only laughs and gives his husband what he wants.

Best couple, indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr at [zeethebooknerd](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/zeethebooknerd) or on Twitter at [tkreyesevandiaz](https://twitter.com/tkreyesevandiaz).


End file.
